Requests for Proposals

Risk Valuation Measurement Top-Up Fund for Randomized Evaluations

J-PAL is launching a dedicated RFP to provide top-up funding to randomized evaluations for the collection and processing of the additional data or implementation of new analyses necessary to identify revealed preferences and generate new evidence on how people value risk. Alternatively, studies may introduce variation that could be used to address some of the key assumptions to valuing risk – for example, in access to credit or information.

Individuals make choices every day that have consequences on their future income, health, and safety. Since there is no market for mortality risk, revealed preference studies use observed choices to estimate how much value individuals place on mortality risk reductions associated with, for example, occupational choices, transportation alternatives or expenditures on risk-reducing technologies. For example, how much more compensation do workers demand to take on riskier jobs? Are people willing to pay more for safer forms of transportation? These choices – and the valuations they reveal – are important in part because they inform estimates of the Value of Statistical Life (VSL). In high-income countries, this measure drives the results in many cost-benefit analyses of health, transport, and environmental policies, helping policymakers analyze tradeoffs and make key decisions in designing policies to combat poverty. At the same time, assumptions and methodologies that are standard in high-income country VSL research may not perform as well in LMICs. By supporting rigorous studies that test key assumptions in the literature and that provide data points in underrepresented contexts such as LMICs, this fund aims to improve this tool and inform policymakers making important decisions under uncertainty.   

Eligibility

While this fund is operated via the funding infrastructure of the King Climate Action Initiative (K‑CAI), all J-PAL affiliates and invited researchers are eligible to apply for the Risk Valuation Measurement Top Up RFP in collaboration with their implementing, policy, and/or other research partners. J-PAL postdoctoral fellows are eligible to apply for all types of research funding. Graduate students who have a J-PAL affiliate or invited researcher on their thesis committee are eligible to apply for up to $50,000 in funding. To be considered for funding, all proposals are required to first submit a letter of interest. Studies must include randomized evaluations and be sufficiently powered in order to apply. Please carefully review the RFP Overview before applying. The Proposal Guidelines include a template for the LOI and full proposal. 

Proposal Timeline

J-PAL’s Risk Valuation Measurement Top-Up RFP will be launched on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. All applications are required to submit a letter of interest by Thursday, September 17, 2026. Full applications will be due at 3:00 PM ET on October 21, 2026.

Application Instructions and Submission Links

You will submit both the LOI and the full proposal via an online portal that requires registration. To apply to J-PAL’s VSL Measurement Top-Up RFP, you will first need to register via our online portal. Please review these instructions for applicants. If you experience any errors or technical issues, you can first check this J-PAL guide to WizeHive as well as the platform's FAQ section. For further information and troubleshooting, please contact [email protected] and CC [email protected]. For all other questions, please email [email protected]. 

Letter of interest: All applications are required to submit a letter of interest (LOI). They may be submitted between Wednesday, August 26, and Thursday, September 17, 2026. Select LOIs will be invited to the full proposal stage. 

Other RFPs

King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI): K-CAI’s main RFP for research and scaling projects is currently closed. Path-to-scale proposals may continue to submit expressions of interest by contacting [email protected]. Taking a two-track approach to informing climate policy, the King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI) at J-PAL funds proposals to design, pilot, evaluate, and scale innovations at the nexus of climate change and poverty in our four focus areas: 

• Climate change mitigation: Reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to slow the pace of climate change and its damaging effects
• Pollution reduction: Reducing harmful carbon co-pollutants and thereby improving public health, without reducing critical access to energy
• Climate change adaptation: Building people and communities’ ability to adapt to the economic, social, and environmental impacts of climate change, particularly in low- and middle-income countries
• Energy access: Increasing access to affordable, reliable energy for people experiencing poverty and encouraging shifts in energy systems towards cleaner sources

K-CAI funds two types of awards. Research awards fund full randomized evaluations, pilot research projects, and travel/proposal development projects to identify potentially high impact innovations and evaluate their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Path-to-Scale awards fund technical assistance to governments, firms, and NGOs to adapt, pilot, and scale evidence-based climate change solutions with demonstrated impact. K-CAI works across developing countries that will be hardest hit by climate change and high-emitting developed countries. 

J-PAL Air and Water Labs (AWLs): For more information on the AWL application process, visit the AWL website.